Interpersonal Skills Stack Exchange
Interpersonal Skills Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [disability]

For questions about people with disabilities, the questioner or someone else. Navigating socially and in public around this subject. Any issues surrounding communicating with someone with a disability, any awkwardness, or being on the receiving end of insensitive encounters. To be used with the appropriate context tag e.g. [friends], [public-issues].

For questions about people with disabilities, the questioner or someone else. Navigating socially and in public around this subject. Any issues surrounding communicating with someone with a disability, any awkwardness, or being on the receiving end of insensitive encounters.

To be used with the appropriate context tag e.g. ,

25 questions
125
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8 answers

Requesting someone to give up their seat to me on public transport if I have an invisible disability?

I have an invisible disability. I do not really want to disclose what it is, but I have trouble standing up on public transport for longer than a few minutes. I would like to sit down. Now, the bus/tram/train is full. I’m a young adult, barely out…
Belle
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123
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14 answers

Is it acceptable to violate table manners in public due to my disability?

I have a tremor, which varies in intensity. I recently ordered a sandwich at a restaurant, which was pretty easy to eat, but I gave up trying to eat the salad, because I was unable to do so with a fork. If I had been at home, I would have used my…
San Franciscan
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102
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5 answers

How do I protest my child's suspension without "poisoning the well"?

My high-functioning autistic daughter was suspended from summer camp for hitting a smaller child (my daughter's in the oldest grade; everyone is smaller than she is). I agreed at the time to placate the teachers and parents of the other…
SnappingShrimp
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99
votes
9 answers

Refusing free goods as a blind person

As a severely visually impaired person, I use a white cane in the public and unfamiliar shops for identification purposes and as a mobility aid. I regularly encounter sellers at bakeries or fast food restaurants who would like to give me my entire,…
Carolina Winter
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66
votes
8 answers

How can I suggest to someone that he may potentially be colourblind?

My colleague recently had a disagreement with a client about the colour of two items. The client claimed both items were the same colour, while to my colleague one was red and one was green. I can confirm that the two items were indeed red and…
Belle
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56
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5 answers

How to get a blind person's attention in a crowded public place?

A while back, I was sitting in a crowded train. Across from me was a blind individual with a guide dog. I noticed the guide dog was trying to eat a chocolate covered waffle and wanted to warn the person about this. Because the individual was unknown…
Summer
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50
votes
6 answers

Using reserved "disabled parking" with a disability people cannot see

I have a disability that cannot be seen (diffuse scleroderma and a recalcitrant and relapsing polymyositis). I seem to walk around ok, but my muscles are wasted and continue to rebuild and waste, making it difficult for me to walk long distances and…
user57
50
votes
6 answers

How to address a someone who is constantly offended on my behalf

Background: I was born with several disabilities, including Asperger's syndrome, hearing impairment, and other difficulties related to being born blue. (Neonatal hypoxia) I am nearly 50, am independent, and have come to terms with all of my…
user4548
29
votes
4 answers

How do I deal with someone who makes more of my disabilities than I do?

I am taking a class and the instructor knows I am hearing impaired. The only accommodation I need is to sit in the front and to the left of the classroom and I can do the rest on my own. Between reading lips and sitting close enough, I never have a…
user4548
25
votes
4 answers

How do I prevent people from thinking my deformity disables me?

Explanation:When I was younger, I broke my arm close to my growth plate near my elbow. As a result, part of my arm grew and the other part did not, resulting in a boomerang shaped arm (if I hold my arm straight out, it looks like a boomerang).…
Joe-You-Know
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24
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5 answers

How do I get a delusional friend to seek professional help?

I have a good friend who has recently lost the ability to take advice or criticism and has become extremely delusional as a result. It's clear that he has a mental disability of some description and although we (me and other close friends) have…
DCON
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24
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5 answers

How to effectively make others aware of my hearing impairment, which is non-obvious?

I have been hearing impaired since birth due to nerve damage. Since the problem is with the nerves themselves, there is no treatment so there's no hearing aid or surgery that can help. I read lips to some extent, and that combined with my remaining…
user4548
21
votes
2 answers

Bringing up mental illness to dates?

I have bipolar disorder. It is under control, but I read that my children might inherit it and my medicines might affect unborn children. But, I'd like to get married and have children. After starting the treatment, I stopped dating. Now, I'd like…
user2107
15
votes
1 answer

Non-disabled people parking on handicap spots

This morning, when I went to the local bakery, a woman (maybe around 25 years old) parking on the handicap spot right in front of the store. To me, she didn't look disabled at all. Granted, not every disability is visible from the outside, so to…
Suimon
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15
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4 answers

What are some other ways to speak to a deaf person without ASL?

One of my friends online is deaf, and we met on a game and made friends through in game communication. We've set up to meet, but I realized I may have made a critical misstep in that I don't know American Sign Language (ASL). For background, he's…
Anoplexian
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